Improvement in foundry apparatus



5 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. P. BROADMEADOW.

Foundry Apparatus.

N0.197,960. Patented Dec. H, 1877 Q ,Z Zne es 4 I N. PETERS.FHDTO-LITNOGRAPHEIL WASHINGTON, 0. C.

5 Sheets- -Sheet -2. J. P. BROADMEADOW. Foundry Apparatus,

No. 197,960. Patented Dec. 11,1877

N. PETERS, FNOTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON c 5 Sheets-Sheet 3. J. P.BROADIVIEADOW. Foundry Apparatus.

No. 197,9 0. Patented Dec. 11,1871] v ssnets-snem 4. J.P. BROADMEADOW.Foundry Apparatus.

No. 197,960. Patented Dec. 11,1877.

"-FEVERS, WOTMITMDGRAPHER, WASHINGTON, D Q

UNITED SrArns PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN P. BROADMEAD'OW, BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR OF IONE-HAL'FEIS RIGHT TO HORACE L. EAMES, OF. SAME PLACE.

IMBRJOVE MENT lN FOUNDRY APPARATUS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 197,960, dated December11, 1877; application filed August 1, 1877.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, JOHN P. BROADMEADOW, of the city of Bridgeport, inthe State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Apparatusto be used in Foundries; and that the following, taken in connectionwith the drawings, is a full, clear, and exact de the follow-board ormatch-plate,with its elastic or compressible frame. Figs. 9 and 10 areviews of a strike, and Fig. 11 is a detail representing the latches andthe latch-opener.

This machine has been invented with a view of diminishing the labor, andconsequently the f expense, of molding small castings in green sand, andacts upon the general plan heretofore used of compressing the sand inthe cope and drag upon the pattern by machinery, instead of ramming thesand by hand. My machine, however, is of such a character that themolding can be completed without removing either part of the flask fromthe press, and so constructed that one half of the flask is griped afterthe sand in it is compressed, and can then be turned over while in thegrasp of the clamp. After this the other half of the flask can beadjusted to it, and the molding completed in the press, thus saving thelabor of removing one part of the flask from the machine, turning itupside down, and replacing it in the machine.

This press maybe used with flasks and follow-boards, or pattern or matchplates now known; but I have invented a follow-board or'match-plate witha compressible or elastic frame, which is peculiarly adapted for use inmy press.

In the drawings, the frame of the press is represented at a a,supporting at its lower part a rock-shaft, d, which, by means of an armattached to the shaft, and a toggle or connecting rod, is connected witha cross-head, b, the whole construction being such that the rockin g ofthe shaft d by the lever c, keyed thereon, will cause thecross-head torise and fall.

In the upper part of the frame are secured two journal-boxes orpillow-blocks, e e, one at each end thereof, and these journal-boxessupport my revolving clamp. I

This clamp is constructed as follows: A short shaft passes through thebox e, and has fastened to the inner end of it a plate of metal, f,which may be of any form, by preference quadrangular. The upper andlower edges of the plate are provided with ears, to which are hinged atf two quadrangular frames, f f

These frames have ears corresponding with f f, and on each provided atthe ends farthest from the hinges with a spring-latch, f These latches,when the frames are parallel with each other, catch in keepers attachedto a quadrangular piece of metal, f of the same-shape as f, which issecured to a hollow axle or shaft, which latter rests in the journal-box6'. Hence it follows that the two frames and the two quadrangularpieces, when the latches are caught in the keepers, form, as it were,the ends, top, and bottomof a box, which can be revolved upon the shaftspassing through the journal-boxes e 6. Each frame is, by preference,made of cast-iron, and has in it'a piston or plunger, f, by preferencemade of wood. This piston can slide in the frame in a direction towardand away from the piston in the other frame, and I prefer to provideeach piston with a sheetiron faceplate, f, of greater area than theframe. (See, specially, Figs. 2 and 5.) When the clamp composed of theframes, pistons, and end plates, to which the frames are attached at oneend by hinges, and. at the other end by latches, is in the positionshown in the drawings, or revolved one hundred and eighty degreestherefrom, the piston of the frame then lowermost can be raised byturning the lever 0, thus causing b to rise and bring two projections, bb, on its upper face to bear against and move up two projections, 9attached to the piston. It thus appears that pressure can be applied toa body located between the pistons. v

Each frame has applied to it two strong springs, g g, which springs aresecured at g g to lugs projecting from the piece f, the constructionbeing such that these springs will throw the frame then uppermost (whenits latch is detached from the keeper) into the position shown in Fig.5, so as-to give free access to any flask then lying upon the pistonthen lowermost. These springs g. 9 may be dispensed with, and the framethen uppermost lifted up by hand.

In order to unlatch the latch then uppermost, I pass through the hollow.shaft a rod, h. This rod has its inner end turned up, as at M, and issurrounded by a spring, which, acting against the bottom of acylindrical cavity in the hollow shaft and a pin in the rod, tendsalways to press the rod outward or away from the latches. WVhen this rodis shoved in, its upturned end will strike the spring-latch thenuppermost and release it from its keeper, when the frame will, by itsspring, be lifted into the position shown in Fig. 5. As it is best tomove this rod through the same lever which lifts the cross-head, I haveapplied to the frame and to the rod h a lever, k pivoted ath which leverhas, by preference, applied to its lower end a light spring, h, merelyto steady the lever. The lower end of lever h is beveled on a slant onboth sides, (see Figs. 2, 3, and 5,) and a rocking arm, 7?, also beveledin the same way, (see the same figures,) is secured upon one end of theshaft 01. The whole construction is such that when the lever c is liftedsufficiently far the arm k will move inside of the lower end of thelever k push this lower end outward and the rod h inward, and releasethe uppermost latch. When the lever 0 is brought down again the arm kwill pass outside of the lower end of h, and throw it in a little, butwill produce no effect upon the rod h, which is pushed outward by itsspring as soon as h has passed by h in the direction tounlatch thelatch.

After the article between the pistons has been compressed it isnecessary to hold the then lowermost piston fast in its frame, so as toclamp the compressed body between the pistons while the clamp is beingturned over. In order to perform this duty, I have secured to eachpiston a small rack-plate, j, which passes through a slot in a metalplate, j, attached to the frame. Between this plate j and the piston,and upon the plate, is mounted a dog-lever, 7' connected at one end to arod, j which rod is pulled away from the lever by a spring, j. The wholeconstruction is such I that when either piston is shoved toward theother the rack-teeth oscillate the dog-lever, and when the piston restsit is held in its resting-place by the dog-lever and rack until thelever 3' is shoved inward by hand against the force of the spring oruntil the end of rod ,j nearest the spring strikes against the stop whenthe frame then uppermost is thrown into the position shown in Fig. 5. Inorder to hold the frame then uppermost in this position while insertingor taking out a flask or parts thereof, or other article, I have applieda spring-latch, f at one end of the machine, (see specially Fig. '2,where dotted lines show part of the frame in the same position as inFig. 5,) the latch catching over a projection, f from the frame.

In order to throw the pistons back into their recesses at the time thedog-lever releases the rack-plate, I have applied to each framef' f twosprings, Z 1, connected to the sheet-metal face-plates of the pistons byrods l l, passing through holes in the frame. These springs tend alwaysto force the pistons into their recesses, and do so force them when notresisted by the dog-lever and rack-plate.

In order to compress sand in one-half of a flask, (either the cope orthe drag,) and then put the other half in proper relative position, andcompress the sand in it, it is usually necessary to turn the first halfupside down; at any rate this is the plan used in my machine. I haveexplained that the clamp, composed of frames and pistons, is soconstructed as to be capable of revolution, and intend at times to sobuild the machine that it will be necessary to take hold of the clampand turn it over by hand, or otherwise to apply a crank to the solidshaft and manipulate it by hand; but I prefer so to construct themachine that the clamp may be revolved by the same lever which causesthe shaft d to rock, so that it raises the cross-head and unlatches thelatch. The mechanism for this purpose is best seen in Figs. 2, 4, and 5.

Upon the end of the solid shaft of the clamp, and outside of the frameof the machine, a small cog-whel, k, is secured. This cog-wheel has ingear with it another cogwheel, 'k, which latter has projectin g from itssurface two pins, k 70 The pin 70 has pivoted upon it an arm, k, whichhas secured (adjustably, by preference) upon it a third pin, 70*". Thislast pin has leading from it a supporting-link, kflwhich is pivoted atone end to I0 and at the other end upon the shaft d. The wholeconstruction is such that power applied to the pin k will cause the cogsto revolve in the direction shown by arrows in Fig. 4, and such thatafter the clamp has thus been revolved one hundred and eighty degrees,power applied in the same direction to the pin it will cause the cogs tomove in a direction the reverse of the arrows, and return the clamp toits original position. In order thus to act upon the pins, the lever cis shaped in plan substantially as shown in Fig. 4, and has a bend in itat 0 It is also made in two pieces, which are connected together by ahinge, as at c, and is further acted upon by a spring, which alwaystends to keep the two parts of the lever in line. If this lever 0 beswung outward on its hinge (see an 4 row, Fig. 2) and upward, (seearrow, Fig. 4,)

the part c of the lever will strike against W, and revolve the clamps indirection of arrow 00, Fig. 4, until the pin k strikes the stop 1 Afterthe clamp has been thus turned over, the lever 0 may be drawn backagain, and the in Fig. 5.

mama 3 Fig. 4:, and revolve thecogs in a direction the reverse of thatshown by arrows inFig. 4, un-

til this pin k strikes the stop lthus bringing the clamp back to itsoriginal position. The bend at a in the lever c is made for convenienceonly, so as to give room between the upper end of the lever and themachine, and theform of the lever is unimportant, so long as it is soshaped that it may act upon the pins, as described. I

The bevels on the lever h and arm h are so arranged with reference tothe pins k 70 that the spring-latch of the frame which is arriving atthe uppermostposition shall be detached from its keeper just before orjust at the time that this frame becomes horizontal, and its springs'will then lift it into the position shown When the parts are inposition, as shown in Fig. 5, any ordinary half-flask, with a pattern ormatch plate,. with pattern attached, andfollow-board, may be placed onthe lower piston, care being taken to put blocks or cleats upon thefollow-board, so as to leave room between the pistons to insert theother half of the flask after the sand in the first half has beencompressed. When the half-flask, followboard, &c., .is in place, withthefcontained sand, the latch f, Fig. 2, is unlatched, and thehalf of athe clamp then uppermost is shut down and latched, so as to assume theposition of Fig. 2. A strong downward pull upon lever 0 will then causethe crossjhead b to rise, which will elevate the piston then lowermost(see Fig. 2) and compress the sand. The piston will be held up by itsrack-plate and doglever, the parts between the pistons beingthusclamped. ,An upward motion of the lever .0 will then lower thecross-head b, turn the usual appurtenances, applied as usual; then theframe then uppermost is unlatched from the latch which holds it open,and is shoved down to close the clamp, and is caught and helddown by itslatch, and the lever a depressed again to compress the sand in thesecond half-flask, when the whole may be removed either before or aftera half-revolution of the clamp.

This machine is peculiarly applicable to the method of molding patentedas of my invention on the 29th of November, 1859, in Letters Patent N 0.26,231. I have, however, devised 'tached to the bottom.

a follow-board with an elastic or compressible frame, which I prefer touse.

This follow-board or match-plate, with its frame, is represented incross-sectionin Fig.

8, in longitudinal section in Fig. 5, and in side elevation in Fig. 2. Aframe like the sides, ends, and bottom of a box is procured, (see m m,)and in ,it is secured a piece of plank, m

which, is the follow-board, of such size and in such manner as to leavea space all round it,

between it and the sides of the box. The

sides and ends of the box need not be continuous, but may be replaced bycars or lugs at- (See Fig. 5, and dotted lines, Fig. 8.) Between thelugs or sides and ends of the box and the periphery of the piece ofplank a second frame; m, which is the compressibleframe, like the sidesof albox, without top or bottom, is located, and this second orcompressible frame would be shoved out of its containinggroove bysprings (see, specially, dotted lines, Fig. 5) were it not prevented bypins m Fig. 5, which pass through slots in the lugs or sides of theouter box.

The whole construction is such that the comconstruction which willproduce this result may be used, it being obvious that the outer frameon may be dispensed with, and the pins made to project into and work in.slot-s made in the sides of the piece of plank m. In practice, thiscompressible frame m should beof the same area as a half-flask, and thepins and slots should permit the frame m to project-beyond the face ofthe piece of plank just so far as to form a cavity, which, with thehalf-flask, will contain the requisite quantity of sand beforecompression thereof. If the pattern is of suchicharacter that it can allbe molded in one half of the flask, it is laid or secured upon. the topof the piece of plank m if of .such character that it can be molded ifmade in one piece, but part in one half and part in the other of theflask, then it is partially embedded in the plank, which, in such case,may be replaced by a mass of plaster-of-paris; ifthe pattern is of suchcharacter that it must be in halves in order to be molded, then one halfof it is to be secured to or embedded in the plank, or substitute forit.

The compressible frame and follow-board m andits pattern are now-tobeplaced on thelower piston; the half-flask is then put on top of it,and the cavity is then to be filled with, sand, and the sand struck offby a common strike. Next a board is laid on top of the half-flask, allas shown in Fig. 5; then the upper frame is shut down and latched, andthe lever pulled down, when the'cross-head and lower piston will forcethe follow-board and pattern upward until the compressible frame comeslevel, or in the same plane with the follow-board m Thus the molding ina halfflask will be completed. Next the clamp is to be revolved so as toturn the follow-board uppermost; the upper frame will then be unlatchedand rise. The follow-board m and its compressible frame are now to belifted ofi, leaving the pattern or part thereof in the sand, and theother half flask put on, (see Figs. 6 and 7;) and if my former plan ofmolding is applied, this halfflask is to be filled with sand, and haveapplied on top of the sand a followboard, which will fit inside of theflask, as directed in my patent before referred to. When all is in placethe upper frame is shut down and latched, and the lever 0 moveddownward, lifting the lower piston, and completing the molding in bothhalves of the flasks.

Instead of using my former process, I prefer, in small flasks, to use anupper half-flask of the ordinary size'that .is, one which will not holdall the sand before it is compressed. When this ordinary half-flask isplaced on top of the molded-up half-flask it is to be filled with sandand heaped up. I then strike the sand off by a strike, (see Figs. 9 and10,) which has guides q attached to each end of it to guide it along theflask, and also guides q, to sustain the acting surface or edge of thestrike above the top of the flask. The height of the strike above thetop edge of the flask, and consequently the height of the guide q, is tobe determined by the quantity ofsand required to fill the flask beforethe sand is compressed. After the strike has done its duty the sand willstill lie above the top of the flask, and upon this heaped-up sand anyboard large enough to cover the flask is placed; then the upper frame isshut down, and compression of the sand effected by the lever and piston.The advantage gained by the use of this strike is, that any board largeenough to cover the flask can be used to compress the sand, while by myold plan it was necessary to have a board just largeenough to enter theflask and act as a piston. As flasks of many different sizes are used inlarge foundries, many boards of different sizes were needed, and theexpense was serious. By using such a strike as has been described, anyboard, however large, that can be placed between the pistons in theclamp can be used for different sizes of flasks.

The drawings show two studs, s 8, one attached to each piston andprojecting toward each other. These studs are so contrived that theymay, when desired, enter slots or holes in the compressing-boards, andact upon spruepatterns, so as to form the sprue-holes.

I claim as of my own invention- 1. A clamp capable of revolution and ofcompressing and holding compressed articles inclosed between its jaws,and consisting of end plates, frames, pistons. hinges, latches, andmechanism, substantially such. as described, for holding the pistons inplace after one of them has been forced toward the other, the clampbeing constructed and capable of acting substantially as specified.

2. A clamp, substantially such as specified, in combination with across-head. as described, whereby either piston of the clamp may beforced toward the other.

3. In combination with pistons in a frame,

mechanism, substantially such as described,

by the rock-shaft, the combination being and operating as described.

6. In combination with a clamp, substantially such as specified, thelever and the interposed mechanism, whereby the movement of the leverpartially revolves the clamp, the

combination being and operating substantially as described.

7. In combination with the frames and latches, and the shafts on whichthe frames revolve, the springs for lifting the' frame of the clamp thenuppermost into avertical position, or nearly so, the combination beingand operating substantially as described.

8. In combination with the pistons and the mechanismfor holding them inthe position to which they have been forced, and the spring for liftingthe frames, the stop which releases the do g-lever from the rack-platewhen the springs elevate the frame, the combination being and actingsubstantially as described.

9. The lever, rock-shaft, and cross-head, in combination with theapparatus for unlatching the uppermost latch, and the mechanism wherebythe clamp may be partially revolved, so that the same lever may be usedfor compressing the sand, unlatching the latches, and revolving theclamp, substantially as set forth.

10. A follow board with a compressible frame, constructed and capable ofuse substantially in the manner described.

11. In combination, a follow-board with a compressible frame and ahalf-flask, the two capable of holding the necessary quantity of sandbefore compression, and capable of use substantially as described.

JOHN P. BROADMEADOW.

Witnesses:

R. M. HOUSTON, H. L. EAMES.

